The invention relates to a sterile container, in particular for the holding and sterile storage of surgical instruments or material, comprising a holding space, which is defined by a container base and container walls, a lid for closing the holding space and a gas exchange opening, which can be closed off by a sterile filter held in a filter holder.
Sterile containers of this type, together with, for example, surgical instruments or material stored therein, are sterilized in a sterilizer. They can then be transferred to a sterile operating region, where they can be opened. The sterile filter is required in order to prevent germs from penetrating into the holding space of the container following the sterilization operation. However, this filter has to be replaced from time to time. In known sterile containers, this can be achieved only with difficulty. Moreover, production of a lid with filter holder arranged integrally thereon is very complex.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve a sterile container of the type described in the introduction in such a way that the sterile filter can easily be exchanged and the lid is particularly simple to produce.